Your Letters Have Become My Heartbeat
by LuxAve
Summary: "I asked the Congress to declare … a state of war." -Franklin D. Roosevelt. That was a bad time. For the entire world. For the United States. For the Hamada family. Tadashi Hamada was drafted into the war and decided to spend the next four years fighting. He had a duty to his country and a duty to protect his family. And he's glad he had his pocket watch.
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah. I'm starting another (I really hopes its a short) story. It honestly really shouldn't be very long. I don't know how detailed it is going to turn out, but I lovelovelove historical fiction, and I'm thinking about going into the military and getting my history degree (still on the fence about both things) so I thought I'd try my hand at a little historical fiction.**

 _ **Your Letters Have Become My Heartbeat**_

 **1.**

" _I asked the Congress to declare … a state of war."_

 _-Franklin D. Roosevelt_

 _December 8, 1941_

 _Dear Tadashi_

Hiro Hamada was only nine when his older brother was drafted into the army. While the child was smart for his age, he still didn't agree with the fact that the government could just _pick_ people to go fight. If Hiro's older brother wanted to join the army when he just turned seventeen, he would have. But he didn't. For a reason.

But of course, the President decided ' _hey! That kid just turned eighteen a few months ago, we didn't celebrate with him. To make up for that, let's send him to war!'_ Or at least, that's what Hiro bitterly thought went through the President's head when the man stated that the nation was now officially at war.

And of course, Hiro's older brother had this complex where he just had to help everyone he met, everyone he's passed on the street, everyone who has ever glanced his direction. The mandatory twelve months of service was nationally changed to eighteen. Then his brother, bless Tadashi Hamada's hero-complex beating heart, decided he was going to _voluntarily_ go back out for another year and a half of service.

Four years. _Almost_ four long, worried filled years.

Hiro was getting excited, his brother had less than four months of service left and then he was finally coming home.

 _You're almost coming home._

Hiro started out his daily letter to his brother. He wrote a letter everyday, saved them then sent them every Friday; they'd reach his brother in a week or so's time. They both decided that they'd write and send them in that way so that when they finally did arrive to their respective recipients, they'd open them up on that day of the week.

 _I can't wait. I'm pretty sure you can't either. Aunt Cass has gotten into the habit of moving the living room furniture around when she's nervous or excited now. Between her two habits, I prefer her constantly changing where the couch is as opposed to making sugary things in the dead of night then stress eating them the next few days._

The letters were always filled with mundane things. Like what the two did that specific day, or a mini-rant about a subject Hiro was having a tough time with at school or a sergeant Tadashi had knocked heads with by accident; just little things to keep the two in the loop with each other.

 _But guess what! Aunt Cass and I had a meeting with the dean at school, and he said I had enough credits and courses taken that I can graduate at the end of this year! Just after you get back! So, don't be late!_

Hiro had always been incredibly smart, borderline genius; he was always breezing through classes, skipping grades, and taking advanced courses. Dean Charleston had called a meeting with Hiro and his aunt the week prior, explaining how Hiro had completed all the necessary courses he needed to pass high school. And he was only thirteen!

 _Did you get the pocket watch? We saw it in a window downtown and since you seem to love pocket watches, we thought you'd like it. And it was small enough to be able to send to you so you wouldn't have to wait for a birthday present until you got home. I'm really sorry we couldn't find a chain for it, though._

Hiro hated that his brother had to spend his birthday, for the last few years, in some foreign country away from his family, away from his friends. Hiro also hated that any birthday present they had gotten for him, they had to wait to give it to Tadashi until he got back, and the two Hamadas at home hated that, them being gift-givers and wanting Tadashi to know right then what he got and if he liked it or not.

 _I have to go now, Aunt Cass is swamped in the café and I have to run these letters down to the Post Office so you can actually read these, then I gotta help out around here. (And maybe get her to put the living room back to the way it was…. She's tried to Fung-Shui the room last night… I didn't know it was possible to trip over a couch. But lo-and-behold, that's what I found out this morning.)_

 _Love you Tadashi, can't wait for you to come home._

(-)

There were times during Tadashi Hamada's day where he'd think to himself _'why do I keep signing up for this?'_ By nature, Tadashi was not a violent young man. He never got into fights at school, sure, he knew karate but that was more for self-defense in an actual emergency – like if his life was in danger from someone attacking him on the street or something, not to show someone up at school.

But them the draft was instated, he was forced to serve since he had no way or reason to get out of it, legally that is. No, four years later and he's still not a violent young man. But he had a duty to do and a country to protect – his aunt and little brother to protect. Now he knew karate, hand-to-hand combat, and how to shoot a gun.

But from the first time he had to shoot that blasted contraption, he knew he'd never be the same. The act of purposely having to shoot someone – fatally shoot someone – was something Tadashi thought he'd never have to do. And from the first time he pulled the trigger at a living, breathing human being, he knew he was going to be reliving that moment night after night for the rest of his life; knew that he was forever changed because of this stupid war because people just can't get along civilly and feel the need to attack one another for the sport of it, for petty differences and greed. He just hoped he was going to be at least a little of the same person he left as.

 _Yeah, almost home; just a little bit longer._

He loved the system him and Hiro had worked out, letter writing wise. He'd get a package on Saturday, then open the letters one by one as the week wore on until he got another package. He'd keep that day's letter in the inside breast pocket of his jacket, re-reading it throughout the day when he could. Once a month he'd ship all the letters Hiro and his aunt wrote to him back home so he wouldn't lose them.

 _I can't wait to be home either. How's Mochi doing? I'm sure he doesn't like Aunt Cass moving things around. Two reasons. One, he has no place to hide now. And two, he doesn't get donuts and cake every day – which is probably a good thing since cat's aren't supposed to eat that stuff._

He always started his daily letter out by answering his little brother, replying or commenting on just about everything his little brother mentioned.

 _I did get the pocket watch, just opened it the other day. It's amazing, thank you. I've been carrying it in my pocket with your daily letters. And I'm sure I have a chain somewhere that can work with this, if not, we'll just have to go on a chain hunt when I get home._

As he wrote the letter, he held the gifted pocket watch in his hand, turning it over and over in a soothing manner. He had a rough day, a day he would refuse to describe to his brother, but holding the pocket watch has made him feel closer to home ever since he received it.

 _I am so proud of you! Graduating at thirteen? That's got to be some sort of record. That is amazing news, Otōto! Well I must go, got an early call in the morning. Try not to trip over any more couches, that's bad for you. Thank you guys again for the pocket watch; I love it. And I love you guys._

 _Only a little while longer. Love you little brother._

(-)

The sky was overcast, dreary and grey with rainy spots.

But Tadashi wasn't paying attention to any of that, too busy having to defend his country, protect his family, his unit and himself as him and the unit he was in shot at the line of Germans that they were up against in that moment. It was he and two other guys in that particular little trench they had dug out, all three taking turns shooting at the approaching enemies.

"What do you guys miss most about home?" One of the guys, Fred was his name, if Tadashi was remembering correctly.

The other guy, Wasabi – a nickname granted to the bigger built male by Fred after an unfortunate incident with the Japanese condiment, sighed. "Everything being tidy." He simply stated as he pulled the trigger of his gun, hitting the oncoming target. "What about you Tadashi?"

"My little brother and my aunt." The young adult sighed. He couldn't afford to think hard about them at the moment, they were in the middle of a fight for Pete's sake! He couldn't be distracted at a dangerous time like this. "You?" He asked the original questioner.

"Eh, nothing much. I have a lot of pointless things back home." The blonde male told them as he reloaded.

They fell into a silence as they continue firing at the enemy for a handful of minutes.

Then all the shots from the other line stopped.

And that's when things went south.

A whole group of Germans appeared out of nowhere, easily outnumbering the American unit by a dozen or so; but that's not what Tadashi's two friends were worried about, their unit could easily take this group of Germans down. Instead they were worried about, and standing over their now fallen comrade.

At first, Tadashi didn't know what happened; one second he's pulling the trigger of his weapon, and the next second there's a beyond believable painful pressure on his chest and his arm is completely numb and he's on the ground trying to keep his eyes open.

"Hold on Tadashi!" He heard Wasabi tell him. "Just hold on!"

(-)

There was a knock on their apartment door as Cass and Hiro were setting the table for dinner.

"Hiro, can you get that?" His aunt asked as she attended to what she was cooking.

The thirteen year old ran to the door. "Hello?" He greeted as he opened it a crack, seeing a uniformed Western Union messenger standing there. His heart instantly sank and his blood ran cold.

Seeing these men at your door when you had a loved one fighting was never, ever a good thing.

"Aunt Cass." Hiro called for his aunt before the man even had time to ask for her. His heart was pounding in his chest; he could plainly see the yellow piece of paper in the man's hand.

"Just a minute." She called from the kitchen.

The thirteen year old stood there, giving the man in front of him a very pleading look, a look that asked for him to go away and not come back. His brother was fine and he'd be coming home in a few months time. This man that stood in front of him better have the wrong address and family to give horrible news to.

"Hello." Hiro heard Cass hesitate the word when she came up behind him, placing an anchoring hand on the small shoulder, giving him a small squeeze. Whether that was for her or for him, he was sure.

The Western Union messenger handed a small postcard sized paper to Cass, a slightly upset expression on his face. He tipped his hat and began walking away before Cass even began reading the paper.

Hiro promptly shut the door and turned and looked at his aunt, her eyes glued to the words of the paper, tearing up at what she was reading, hand pressed over her mouth.

"He's coming home, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I wonder if you guys know how much I research for things that I write. I'm a history buff, and I still sat here for hours looking things up to make sure that what I wrote at least SOUNDED real. I even looked up when Superman first appeared.**

 **And I know not everything is accurate. I wasn't trying to be dead on. I'm taking fictional characters from someone else's fictional world and putting those fictional characters into my own fictional world based off of the real world.**

 **Your Letters Have Become My Heart Beat**

 **2.**

 _Miss Cass Hamada_

 _We regret to inform you that your nephew Private Tadashi Hamada was on twenty first February slightly wounded in action in Germany. You will be notified as reports of condition are received._

 _The Adjutant General_

"He's coming home, right?" Hiro timidly asked. "In one piece, perfectly fine? Breathing and everything?" He continued to speak as his aunt kept rereading the telegram.

She sighed, looking a little relieved, but not completely. "He was slightly wounded in Germany. That's all it says." She handed the paper to her youngest nephew so he could read it himself.

He took the paper gently from her, as if it were to rip and destroy any chance of Tadashi coming home in one piece with it.

"I'm sure he's fine sweetheart." She tried to sooth him

He stared at the typewriter stamped words for a minute longer before placing the paper delicately on the hall table next to him. "If you don't mind, I think I'll go to bed now." He started walking towards the stairs. "Night Aunt Cass." He gave her a quick good night hug before rushing upstairs, completely bypassing his bed and headed straight for his brother's.

Hiro could feel his heart beating against his ribcage as his tucked himself into his brother's blankets, nuzzling his older brother's pillows. They didn't smell like Tadashi anymore, hadn't in a long time, but they gave the younger boy some much needed comfort in that moment.

(-)

 _A sudden sharp pain radiated in his left shoulder before he felt something actually hit his arm. He stumbled back a few steps, trying not to drop his rifle and keep his balance at the same time._

 _Then something hit him in the chest. His breath left him when the force of whatever it was, his mind to confused and scattered at the moment to really focus on one thing, finally registered to him, knocking him to the ground._

 _Over the blood rushing in his ears and the sound of his heart beating mixing with the echoes of gunfire, he faintly heard one of his two comrades yelling to him. Yelling what, he didn't catch._

 _Even though every other thought in his mind was screaming at him not to, he let his eyes slip close._

"Ah, you're awake, sir." A feminine voice greeted him before he even knew he was awake.

Tadashi opened his brown eyes slowly, trying to avoid as much light as possible. It took him a moment, but he was able to glance over at the nurse standing next to him. He didn't verbally answer her, but gave her a small head nod in acknowledgement.

The army nurse gave him a small smile. She went on to tell him about what happened to him, since he couldn't recall anything at the moment from earlier; she told him not to worry about that he was probably still in shock. But she told him he was shot in the shoulder and had almost been shot in the chest. She patted his uniform jacket on the small table next to his cot before picking tow objects up. "These were in your breast pocket."

He reached his good hand up to take the objects – Hiro's letter for the day and the pocket watch him and their aunt had gotten Tadashi.

"And, I don't know if you'd want this, but," She held up a bullet between her fingers. "This was in your pocket as well."

Tadashi looked from it to the letter and watch in his hand, giving the two objects he held another, more thorough look.

Hiro's letter had a bullet hole through it, and the watch had the biggest dent in a metal Tadashi had ever seen.

The young adult reached up and gently took the bullet from the nurse. "What?" His voice cracked a bit.

The nurse looked at the things in his hand. "Pocket watches make great bullet deflectors." She gave another small smile.

Tadashi's slightly delirious and scared-shitless mind found that a little funnier than the nurse probably intended it to be. "That would have been dead on." He commented, motioning to the bullet in her hand.

"Yeah, it would have." She added.

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling as he thought back. "I don't even think I was fully standing up either. Someone has some good aim."

"But you have a pocket watch." The nurse handed the once-deadly bullet to him.

He nodded as he twisted the weapon ammunition in between his fingers. "Yes, I do."

(-)

Hiro re-read every letter Tadashi had sent to him over the course of all four years he was gone. The thirteen year old sat on his older brother's bed, swimming in one of Tadashi's button-down sweaters, and all the letters spread out in a disorganized, but somewhat orderly fashion all over the bedspread. He kept the ones he had yet to open for the rest of the week on the small bedside table, still debating on whether or not to open them early.

He was in the middle of reading through an old letter when there was a knock outside the entrance into the door-less room. Hiro looked up from the words on the page to be greeted by the sight of his aunt.

"What are you still doing up, hun?" She asked gently, practically tiptoeing over to Tadashi's side of the room.

Hiro shrugged. "Can't sleep."

She sighed softly and sat on the edge of her oldest nephew's bed, next to her youngest. "Are these all letters he's sent?" She asked, looking at all the slightly torn envelopes.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah." He reached over and grabbed one from a month ago. "This one's funny. He met these two guys when he changed units and one of the guys, Fred, has a habit of giving nicknames to everyone from embarrassing moments." He handed the opened envelope over to her. "And Tadashi said this poor guy got the nickname 'Wasabi' when he dropped some."

Cass chuckled quietly and gently felt the edges of the paper. She didn't pay attention to what the letter actually said but more along the lines of how neat her oldest's handwriting was; how the lines of the letters connected and curved together. She ran a fingertip over the dark ink carved onto the page.

All Cass could think about was how their teeny tiny family had already lost enough; Hiro didn't need to lose his brother to add to the smallness of their little clan. Cass's parents were gone, almost a decade and a half now- both suffered from cancer, the boy's parents, Cass's sister and brother in-law were killed in a freak car accident. They didn't need to lose another Hamada. _Please make sure he's all right._ She silently prayed to everyone above. _Keep him safe, keep him protected, bring him home in one, breathing piece._

She sighed and glanced over to Hiro, who was buried in reading a different letter Tadashi had sent him. She reached over and pulled him into a hug. "He'll be fine."

He dropped the letter and accepted her hug, but didn't reciprocate except leaning more into her. "I hope so."

She leaned her head against Hiro's for a moment before pulling away. "You should really get some sleep."

After a second of hesitation, Hiro nodded. "Okay." He mumbled. He really didn't want to, not that he probably could sleep – his mind was running all over with worry and fear for his brother. But he got ready to try to sleep anyway. He organized the letters back up by their dates, returning them to their drawer and climbed back into Tadashi's bed.

"Goodnight sweetheart." His aunt gave a forced, but soft smile.

"Night aunt Cass." He snuggled into Tadashi's pillows as the light was turned off.

(-)

The medic had told Tadashi that he was to stay in his cot for the next day or so to make sure that his body was going to be fine after the shock wore off.

"Do you have some paper?" Tadashi asked the nurse when she walked over to check on him.

She nodded, went off somewhere and returned with a few pieces of paper and a pen. "Here you go." She gave him a smile. "Does your arm hurt at all?" She asked as she began her routine of checking up on him.

"Thank you." He gave her a smile. "No not at the moment. One of the medics gave me morphine a little while ago." He straightened out the papers and opened the pen.

She nodded. "Stupid question since you were given morphine, but does your chest hurt at all?"

He shook his head. "Hell of a bruise though." He told her.

She let out a giggle. "I bet. Well, let me know if you do start to feel any pain." She started to walk away to go to the next wounded solider.

Tadashi sighed to himself as he began writing his letter, scribbling the pen at the top of the page to make sure it worked.

 _I am fine._

He plainly states as he started his letter to his family.

 _And I'm not sure if I can say this enough, but really, thank you for that pocket watch. I was in one of the trenches with Fred and Wasabi when a group of Germans came out of nowhere. Not entirely sure what happened, but I was shot in the arm and at my chest. Note I said 'at'. And this is where the pocket watch comes in. I had it in my pocket on the inside of my jacket. The bullet hit it and bounced off. So really, thank you for the watch._

He was able to send that letter off the next day, hoping it would reach his aunt and brother faster than their normal letters.

(-)

It had been about three weeks since they last heard about Tadashi, and while Cass seemed to be happy about it – since 'no news is good news, right?' But Hiro wasn't convinced.

And everyday, the thirteen year old dreaded waking up and finding out something happened to his brother since that first telegram. Granted, from the very beginning, Hiro knew that there was a possibility of something happening to Tadashi, the at the time nine year old wasn't stupid, but he held on to that childish thought that his big brother was invincible and could take on Superman if he really wanted to.

But reality was harsh, and it seemed to be a bit sadistic when it came crashing down on you.

Hiro was sitting outside the apartment, on the fire escape, when he saw the mailman come by.

"Good afternoon, Hiro." Mr. Jenkins, a nice old man who had been delivering mail for a better part of his life, greeted the thirteen year old when he saw Hiro on the steps outside his living room window.

"Hello, Mr. J." Hiro gave a small wave to the man.

The close to eighty year old held up a letter. "Have something for you."

Hiro brightened and rushed into the apartment to get downstairs to get the letter Mr. Jenkins teased to him.

"Quick today." The mailman commented. "Here's your mail." He handed a whole handful of pieces of mail, but the letter on top, the one Mr. Jenkins showed him, caught his interest and every other piece of mail in his hold was obsolete at the moment.

It was a letter from Tadashi.

As in, from Tadashi himself not some insensitive typewriter written telegram from an unsympathetic person and being delivered by an unconcerned messenger with a plastered smile on their face. It was a letter, hand written by Tadashi, shipped who knows how many miles to be delivered by the friendly neighborhood mailman, Mr. Jenkins, to land happily in Hiro's hands.

"Thank you, Mr. J!" Hiro gave him a smile and a wave and rushed off back into the apartment building to his family's little cozy unit.

He unceremoniously dropped the other envelopes in a heap on the kitchen table and ripped into the letter Tadashi sent.

The thirteen year old had to calm himself after he read the first sentence ' _I am fine'_ before he could continue on.

"I'm home, Hiro!" Cass called as she walked in the door. She worked at a café down the street and had just gotten off.

A repetitive 'Tadashi wrote' was what greeted her and she then had a sudden armful of Hiro waving around a piece of paper.

"Slow down?" Cass laughed a little after Hiro pulled away.

"Tadashi wrote." He shoved the paper in his hand at her again, telling her to read it.

She gently took the paper and read what her oldest nephew wrote. She smiled and gave Hiro's hair a ruffle. "I told you he'd be fine."

"Glad we decided to get him a pocket watch." Hiro told her.

She nodded. "I'm sure we all are."

"Now we just have to wait for him to come home."

 **(-)**

 **I'm thinking one more little chapter after this one. Maybe, this'll be marked as complete though, I'm still thinking about it. I told you this wasn't going to be very long. And it's really not written out great at all, not my best work. Maybe I'll edit it one day. Who knows. But for now I have some other stories I'm working on.**

 **Kinda excited, I've never taken on more than one story, aside from the odd oneshot or two before.**

 **Heehee. This'll be fun.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Your Letter Have Become My Heartbeat**

 **3.**

Army boots quietly made their way up three flights of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a door. The soft clinking sounds of keys were barely heard in the hallway before they were inserted into a lock and turned, allowing the door to open and the boots to continue on their way. The door was shut and locked up again as noiselessly as possible.

Tadashi Hamada sat his bag down by the door, unlaced his boots and slowly made his way through his house.

He had told his aunt and brother that he was coming home the next day but his flight got bumped up so he was able to get home earlier and he hadn't been able to tell them that. So he settled to be a surprise.

Tadashi peeked into his aunt's room, an old habit of hers was to keep her door open as she slept, Hiro used to have nightmare and the doorknobs in the apartment were abnormally high and the little four year old couldn't reach. He silently stepped into her room and fixed her blanket that was falling off her bed.

 _She's looks older, more tired, than before I left._ Tadashi thought as he tucked the blanket around his aunt. _Worrying does that to a person_. He gave a soft smile and kissed her forehead before carefully tiptoeing out of her room.

 _Now to look in on Hiro_. Tadashi told himself as he tried to remember all the squeaky parts of the stairs leading to Hiro and his' shared bedroom. He let out an inaudible relieved sigh when he reached the top and remembered where _not_ to step, until he stepped on a lose board he didn't know was there. The board creaked let out a very loud and sharp noise of protest when he stepped on it, causing Tadashi to freeze up and listen to make sure no one woke up.

When he didn't hear the sounds of someone getting up, he gently shuffled off the board and continued into his and Hiro's room. Tadashi was honestly surprised when he didn't see Hiro in his bed and for a brief moment, his heart stopped beating, thinking something had happened to the thirteen year old. He visibly sagged when he heard Hiro mumble something from _Tadashi's_ side of the room.

The young serviceman gently moved the rice paper divider that he had bought when he was younger, to give the brothers a little more privacy and space between the two of them, and peeked in to his side of the room. And sure enough, Hiro was snuggled into his blankets, completely claiming the bed as his own.

"Oh, Hiro." Tadashi let out a breathless chuckle as he walked over to the bed, softly trying to nudge his brother over a few inches so he could climb into his _own bed_ , a bed Tadashi had not slept in in the better part of four years. "Move over a bit, will ya?" He whispered to the sleeping teen.

Hiro shifted a bit. "Sorry." Came a mumbled response. When he settled down again, Tadashi climbed in to the extra two inches of space his brother had given him.

When he got situated, not even bothering changing out of his uniform, he took a look at his brother's face. Some of the child-like softness was gone, and he seemed to take on a worried look that should only be reserved for someone who had big things to be concerned about, not a young teenager. And his hair had gotten longer, their aunt must have been letting Hiro make his own decision when it came to haircuts now; as a child Hiro always preferred slightly longer hair than the shorter look that always seemed to be the trend for kids his age.

Tadashi couldn't resist and reached over to gently ruffle the mop of hair. He smirked when Hiro tried to swipe at his hand in sleep, completely missing his older brother by a mile. The young adult let out a quiet laugh but quickly sobered up.

"You've grown up, kid." He muttered out loud to himself. "You can't do that when I'm not here."

Hiro must have sensed Tadashi's presence; he shifted closer to his older brother and cuddled into him instead of the pillows.

"No more growing up." The older brother mumbled as sleep started to grab at him. "Not allowed."

(-)

Tadashi woke up a few hours later, surprisingly before Hiro had _and_ before their aunt did. He'd gotten into the habit of only sleeping a few hours at a time, half because the unit had worked out shifts to sleep and be on guard, and half because honestly, who could actually sleep comfortably and peacefully through the night while they were in a war zone?

He pulled himself up and out of bed, careful not to wake his brother, and tiptoed downstairs, this time, knowing about the loose board at the top of the stairwell as well. When he got down into the kitchen and living room area, he quietly closed his aunt's bedroom door before he started cooking breakfast.

He had tried to be as quiet as he could, but he knew at some point, Cass would hear something and come and investigate. Cass was an odd sleeper, either she could sleep through an earthquake or she would wake up if you blinked sideways. This morning it was Tadashi closing a cabinet door.

"Hiro? What are you doing up so-" Cass poked her head out of her room to peer into the kitchen, but instead of seeing her youngest nephew, she came face to face with her oldest.

"Morning." He said as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and went back to whisking eggs in a pan.

"What are you- when did you get in?" She asked as she rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Careful of the arm." He tugged his left arm out of her rib-cracking hug, his shoulder still sore and stiff from being shot months ago.

"Sorry." She mumbled as she continued to hug him. "When did you get here? I thought you weren't supposed to be in until tonight." She questioned when she finally let go, letting him continue whisking the eggs for whatever he was making.

He smiled. "Flight got bumped up. Surprise!" He said quietly, still conscious about Hiro being asleep right above them. "Got in early this morning."

Cass tapped his forearm, not remembering exactly what shoulder he was shot in. "Why didn't you wake us, silly?" She half scolded. "What are you making?" She changed subjects wanting to help him out.

He shrugged. "Just scrambled eggs."

She snapped her fingers in realization. "Forgot, you can't cook."

Tadashi dramatically sighed. "I burnt a pretzel one time!" He huffed.

Cass laughed. "I'll make some bacon." She sidestepped him to get another skillet out.

The stairs squeaked, alerting the two Hamadas in the kitchen that the youngest in their little clan was up.

"Aunt Cass, who are you talking to?" Hiro's voice reached them before they saw the thirteen year old. He trudged slowly down the stairs, rubbing his eyes as he did.

Tadashi shook his head to his aunt who was about to answer, and gave Hiro a reply for her. "No one." He turned back to stirring the eggs in the mixing bowl. A small smile broke on his face when he heard his brother gasp when the thirteen year old finally looked up.

"Tadashi!" Hiro practically flew across the room and attacked his brother; Tadashi barely managed to pass his aunt the bowl before he had his arms full of little brother.

"You grew an inch!" Tadashi jokingly commented when he noticed Hiro almost reached his shoulders.

Hiro steamed for a moment, pulling away from Tadashi just long enough to make sure the young adult saw the annoyed look before diving back in for a hug. The younger brother missed Tadashi's small grunt of pain when Hiro knocked his shoulder.

But Cass didn't.

She let the two brothers hug it out as she finished breakfast and afterwards promptly sent Hiro up to get ready for one of his last days of school.

"Do I have to go?" Hiro whined all throughout breakfast.

His aunt nodded. "You have exams and two days left of classes. Yes. You have to go."

Tadashi snickered into his glass of orange juice. Yeah, Hiro didn't change at all, grew an inch and hasn't cut his hair in the past few months, but nothing else is different.

Hiro shot a glare toward his older brother sitting across from him. "But Tadashi's back!"

Cass nodded. "And he'll still be back when you get home."

"I'll probably be asleep all day anyway." Tadashi commented before Hiro had a chance to say anything else. "Since _somebody_ has seemed to have claimed my bed as their own." He raised an eyebrow to his little brother.

"You weren't using it!" Hiro rebuttaled, shrugging.

Tadashi rolled his brown eyes. "Well I will be now."

Cass shook her head. "Alright you two. Hiro, hurry up and get dressed." She motioned with her fork. "And you," She pointed the eating utensil at Tadashi, "eat." She commanded her nephews.

"Yes ma'am." Tadashi gave a mock salute, fitting since he was still in uniform.

His aunt laughed.

(-)

Tadashi finally went up to change shortly after Hiro disappeared to start getting ready for school. The young adult stood in front of his dresser and closet. "Ah, real clothes!" He laughed as he unbuttoned his uniform dress shirt to show the undershirt he had on.

"You're weird." Hiro stated as he got himself ready for school. He watched his brother out of the corner of his eyes, taking note that the young adult seemed to favor his right arm more so than his left, which Hiro found a little odd since Tadashi was _left handed_. "Does it still hurt?" He asked without meaning to.

Tadashi looked over from the closet and shook his head. "Not anymore." He was about to pull a shirt out of the closet when he remembered something. "Where is it?" He asked aloud to himself as he started patting the pockets of his uniform. "Ah ha." He said when he found what he was looking for in his left side pocket. "Come here." He pulled the objects out.

"What?" Hiro asked as he hustled over to his brother, curiosity overwriting the knowledge that he needed to hurry up if he wanted to make his exam on time.

"One of your letters," He handed the letter to Hiro who noticed the large hole through it. "The pocket watch," He sat the pocket watch in Hiro's hand.

"Whoa." The thirteen year old was looking at the mark a bullet made when it hit the metal. He ran his finger over it a few times.

"Still works, too." Tadashi commented and flipped the little latch to open the surprisingly still ticking watch.

"That's bizarre." Hiro watched as the second hand continued to tick. He sat on Tadashi's bed, his older brother following.

"And," The young adult began. "This." He held up a little bullet.

"That little thing made that big of a dent in this?" Hiro stuttered, shocked. "Wait, you kept it?"

Tadashi nodded. "I don't know why."

"That's quite morbid of you." His little brother told him. "That thing could have killed you, so you kept it." He let out a small chuckle as he handed the things back to get ready for school.

"Says the kid that repeatedly eats peanuts." Tadashi argued back.

He heard Hiro scoff from his side of the room. "That's completely different."

"Yeah?" Tadashi questioned. "How so?" He pulled his dress shirt completely off and grabbed a shirt from his closet. "Are some of my shirts missing?" He took note of the empty space.

"They're in the washer." Hiro told him, voice sort of muffled, as he poked his head around the corner from inside the bathroom, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He was about to answer his brother, whose back was towards him, when he saw the bullet scar on Tadashi's shoulder.

And it hit Hiro again just how close his brother came to dying over there.

Forgetting his toothbrush was in his mouth, he rushed over to Tadashi for the umpteenth time that morning, wrapping his big brother into a hug, practically face planting into his brother's back. "I'm glad you're home." Is what Hiro attempted to tell his brother, but it just came out as a muffled mess of toothpaste and shirt.

Tadashi turned to his right a bit to look at his brother and he ruffled his hair again. "Couldn't understand a word of that."

The thirteen year old pulled his face away from his brother slightly, and got the toothbrush out of his mouth and repeated, "I'm glad you're home."

 **(-)**

 **I was going to add the word 'nerd' in here at some point for Hiro to call Tadashi, and remember when I said I look everything up? Well I do. The word 'nerd' was first used in 1950 in a Dr. Seuss book:** _ **'If I Ran the Zoo'**_ **, it was one of the odd creatures.**

 **And since this was a story based in WW2, I couldn't put it in.**

 **And I originally had 'Knucklehead' in here, but since that was only invented into a word in 1942, ironically by the US Army to show new recruits what to do and what not to do, I didn't' really think it'd be fitting for Tadashi to call Hiro that.**

 **Well, that's the end of that.**

 **I'll work on my historical fiction writing. That really was not the best.**

 **But, you gotta start somewhere, huh?**


End file.
